


Kisses Sweeter Than Hate

by Haggsy



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Alternate Universe - 1970s, Angst, Country Music, Cowboy Rhett, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Secret Relationship, Songfic, This unintentionally turned dark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-03
Updated: 2020-03-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:28:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22996219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Haggsy/pseuds/Haggsy
Summary: Taciturn cowboy Rhett sings a song at the county fair to tell everyone about the best thing in his life.It’s short, there’s no good way to summarise it, exceptfeels.
Relationships: Rhett McLaughlin/Link Neal
Comments: 4
Kudos: 23





	Kisses Sweeter Than Hate

**Author's Note:**

> If you’ve never listened to ‘Kisses sweeter than wine’, please do so before you read this. It really sets the mood.
> 
> https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WNivTEdgT7Y (Original Version.)  
> https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=S6U3oeJvo3k (This is a slower version, it’s more what I imagined writing this.)
> 
> P.S.: This is probably one of those pieces where you have very strong feelings and you try to put them in words and fail miserably.

The sun hung low in the sky and the county fair had reached that slow, lazy transition stage where all the shows were done and all the excited children had gone to bed, but it was still too early to start the dancing.  
As people were standing around with their first drinks and plates of food, it was time for Rhett to climb onto the small wooden stage that had been put up between tents and paddocks.

He’d finished his show-riding earlier and was still wearing his dirty jeans along with leather boots and hat.  
As last year, he’d been asked to play a few songs before the band came for the dance, and as the role model cowboy he was, he couldn’t refuse and had brought his guitar. He did a few of the classics to warm the crowd up, then it was time for _the_ song.

Rhett ran a nervous hand down the front of his cotton shirt. His mouth felt dry. He had to. He would go crazy if he didn’t.

“Well, you all know me as a man of few words, ‘cept for when I’m singin’ of course.” There was laughter, because it was a popular joke in these parts that if you wanted to talk to cattleman Rhett McLauglin, you had to give him a guitar first. He just didn’t see much sense in talking when you could be doing instead. Except for the one person he wanted to talk to until his lips were bleeding, had talked to for so many quiet hours.

“Anyways, today I got something to say. I wanna sing a special song for you, and I want you to listen to the end. Can you do that for me, folks?” A few people shouted their agreement while others clapped or nodded. Some of the men who’d been standing in small groups to talk and drink turned around and riveted on the stage.  
Rhett strummed a couple of random chords before picking up the quick notes of the actual song. A pleased murmur went through the small crowd when they recognised the well-known melody and there was a handful of women who pulled their men closer for a dance.  
Rhett’s heart sank when he saw it, knowing they wouldn’t be dancing for long.

_Well, when I was a young man, never been kissed_  
_I got to thinkin' it over- how much I had missed_

The first lines were shaky but good, the people still listening and singing along.

_So I got me a boy and I kissed him and then_  
_Oh, lordy, well I kissed 'im again_

_Because he had kisses sweeter than wine_  
_He had, mmm, mmm, kisses sweeter than wine_  
_(Sweeter than wine)_

A few confused glances. They probably thought they’d misheard. _He_ had noticed immediately. His eyes were wide and his mouth formed a silent O.

_Well I asked him to stay and to be my sweet friend_  
_I told him we'd be so happy till the world would end_  
_I begged and I pleaded like a natural man_  
_And then, whoops oh lordy, well he gave me his hand_

They noticed now. The changes in the lyrics were obvious in this verse, and the people who were actually paying attention to Rhett’s singing rather than dancing or drinking stared at him. He kept going, his voice steady, defiant.

  
_Because he had kisses sweeter than wine  
He had, mmm, mmm, kisses sweeter than wine  
(Sweeter than wine)_

Doris Tucker, that obnoxious old bag, was gawking at Rhett, her brightly painted face full of disgust. He wanted to shove his guitar into that stupid small-minded mug, but he had to keep going. Keep going until everyone had heard.

_Well we worked very hard, both me and my man_

He couldn’t get much clearer than that. There were hushed conversations on the meadow now, the couples had stopped their dancing.

_Workin' hand-in-hand, a good life was our plan  
We had corn in the field and love in our hearts  
And Lord y’know, no one could keep us apart_

_Because he had kisses sweeter than wine  
He had, mmm, mmm, kisses sweeter than wine  
(Sweeter than wine)_

“Whatcha on about, McLaughli?” someone yelled— it was Billy Stewart, one of the farmers. Others joined in— “What’s that shit?”—“That ain’t the real lyrics!”

A woman interrupted. “Shut up, let him sing!”

Rhett closed his eyes, his fingers still steadily plucking.   


_Well our life, it was as good as it gets  
But then he started havin’, mm, many regrets  
Said what we were doin’ was a sin, it was wrong  
So he left, whoops oh lord, and I was alone_

He was staring at Rhett. Everyone else was in groups or pairs, only he was standing alone in the middle of the field in front of the stage. The lights were low now the sun was almost gone, but Rhett still saw the silent tear making its way down his beautiful face. 

_And I missed his kisses sweeter than wine  
Missed his, mmm, mmm, kisses sweeter than wine  
(He’s no longer mine)_

There was only him watching Rhett, the others faded away into a blur. Only a slim, dark haired figure with glasses and the shadowy trees and hills that framed it.

_Well now that I'm old and I'm a'ready to go  
I get to thinkin' what happened a long time ago  
Had a lot of tears, a lot of trouble, and pain  
But still, whoops oh lordy, well I'd do it all again_

The shouts and whistling nearly drowned out his voice now, and they were coming towards the stage, but he just kept singing, staring directly into wet blue eyes.

Shaky legs carried him down the wooden steps, through angry shadows towards his man.

“I told them now.”

“You did.” Fingers running over his cheek, tear-wet skin against his beard. 

“ _God will make you pay for this!_ ” Doris Tucker’s voice, shrill and hysterical.

A strong, bruising grip on his shoulder, pulling him backwards and away from the other one. A fist in his face, knuckles against skin and bones. Pain, more from being separated from him than from bleeding.

Hateful grimaces. “I thought you were a real man, the best cowboy we have!”— “Disgusting!” More pain, darkness then.

————

Healing bruises, regrown bones. Open range, wide roads and a purring engine. Wind in his hair and sun on his skin, freedom ahead.

Link next to him.


End file.
